Speak Now
Since the Wikipedia had a more complete and updated article of this, I copied the article from there. Most of the articles on this wikia are originally from here though. | Recorded = 2008–10 | Genre = }} | Length = 67:29 | Label = Big Machine | Producer = | Last album = Fearless (2008) | This album = Speak Now (2010) | Next album = Speak Now World Tour – Live (2011) | Misc = | Single 2 = Back to December | Single 2 date = | Single 3 = Mean | Single 3 date = | Single 4 = The Story of Us | Single 4 date = | Single 5 = Sparks Fly | Single 5 date = | Single 6 = Ours | Single 6 date = }}}} Speak Now is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 25, 2010, by Big Machine Records. Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2010 at several recording studios, and was handled by Swift and Nathan Chapman. Written entirely by Swift as the follow-up to Fearless (2008), Speak Now expands on the country pop style of her previous work, and features lyrical themes concerning love, romance and heartbreak. A deluxe edition was released on the same day exclusively to US Target stores; it contained three extra bonus tracks and two acoustic versions as well as a pop remix of "Mine". Internationally, another deluxe edition was released containing the same three bonus songs and acoustic songs, and three US versions. In 2012, the Target exclusive was released to a wider distribution in the US. Speak Now received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented Swift's songwriting and themes. The album debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling approximately 1,047,000 units in its first week. Due to strong digital sales, all fourteen songs from the standard edition of the album charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, with the lead single "Mine" having the highest peak of number three. Six singles were released from the album, including the US Country number-one hits "Sparks Fly" and "Ours". Speak Now was also an international success, charting within the top 10 in several countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Swift promoted the album with an international tour, Speak Now World Tour, throughout 2011. According to Swift's label Big Machine Records, as of September 2011, Speak Now has sold over 5.8 million copies worldwide. The album has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and, as of October 2012, has sold 4.2 million copies in the United States. Background and recording Swift worked on the album for two years prior to its release. Swift wrote all of the songs on the album without co-writers. Speaking on a live webcast on July 20, 2010, she said, "I actually wrote all the songs myself for this record. It didn't really happen on purpose, it just sort of happened. Like, I'd get my best ideas at 3:00 am in Arkansas, and I didn't have a co-writer around and I would just finish it." In an analysis of Swift's lyrics, The Oxonian Review noted themes of regret and solitude, highlighting that "December is a month to get through so we can return to the beginning, and is certainly not a month to relish. Yet, Swift goes there—'all the time'—in 'Back to December' by delivering an apology to an ex-boyfriend, which she never did on her prior two albums."Taylor Swift needs a gap year. The Oxonian Review. Retrieved on 2010-11-02. Music writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine viewed that the album musically is "no great progression from Fearless but rather a subtle shift toward pure pop with the country accents ... used as flavoring". Recording sessions for the album took place at several recording locations, including Aimeeland Studio, Blackbird Studios, and Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California, Pain in the Art Studio, and Starstruck Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, and Stonehurst Studio in Bowling Green, Kentucky.[http://www.webcitation.org/5tzzi5sS3 Product Page: Speak Now]. Muze. Retrieved on 2010-11-03. Some of the songs feature live strings, and some, a full orchestra. Title significance According to Big Machine Records president/CEO Scott Borchetta, the album's original title was Enchanted. He explained: "We were at lunch, and she had played me a bunch of the new songs. I looked at her and I'm like, 'Taylor, this record isn't about fairy tales and high school anymore. That's not where you're at. I don't think the record should be called Enchanted." After the discussion, Swift then excused herself from the table at that point. By the time she came back, she had the Speak Now title, which comes closer to representing the evolution that the album represents in her career and in her still-young understanding of the world. Writing and lyrical content Swift wrote all of the songs by herself. The opening track, "Mine", is also released as the lead single from the album. Swift explained that the uptempo country-pop song is about her tendency to run from love. Critics praised the song, although some calling is “formulaic” for resonating her earlier work. "Sparks Fly" was composed by Swift when she was sixteen, prior her debut to the music scene, and first performed during one of her concerts in 2007. The song has gone several revisions on its lyrics, and removed the banjo that originally has. Swift explained that the song is “falling for someone who you maybe shouldn't fall for, but you can't stop yourself because there's such a connection and chemistry.” "Back to December" is the third track from the album, and was released as the second single from the album. It received positive reviews from critics, who regarded it as one of the highlights of Speak Now. The song is one of two songs where Swift has first incorporated an orchestra on record, and lyrically it is the first time that Swift ever apologizes to someone in a song. Critics have speculated that the song is Swift's apology to her ex-boyfriend Taylor Lautner. The title track followed, which released first as a promotional single. The upbeat country-pop song relies on acoustic guitar and is a narration of from the perspective of a person who crashes her former love's wedding in attempt to win him back. “Dear John” is the longest track from the album which clocks six minutes and forty five seconds. The song is an “open letter” to an ex-boyfriend, and it is speculated that the song is written to John Mayer, whom Swift has dated from late 2009 to early 2010. The song is about being manipulated and betrayed by someone you loved. The Grammy-winning song "Mean" is the sixth track of the album. Critics said that it is one of her most country-sounding song. The song's lyrical content addresses those who question Swift's ability to sing. The pop-oriented song "The Story of Us" followed which narrates the awkwardness that takes place between two people after they break up. The song contains an element of pop-punk with a vibrant beat, electric guitars and a fast-paced chorus. “Never Grow Up” is a sweet ballad addressed to a young child from Swift feeling alone as she spends her first night in her new apartment of her own. Swift explained that the song is about “the fact that I don't quite know how I feel about growing up”. The power ballad “Enchanted” serves as the ninth track of the album. The song starts with guitar strings and lyrically, it finds Swift singing about meeting a guy she's attracted to without knowing if her instant infatuation is at all reciprocated. The song has a length of five minutes and fifty two seconds, thus making it the third longest song in the album. “Better than Revenge” is one of Swift’s vengeance songs aimed at the young actress Joe Jonas pursued after breaking up with Swift. The song contains punk rock elements and one of the pop-oriented songs from the album. “Innocent” is written in response to last year's Kanye West contretemps on the MTV Video Music Awards. The song is about someone who has lost his path their life, but whose "streaming lights are bright to me." “Haunted” is the most dramatic song on the album. It starts off with violins and other string instruments, and it is the second song in the album to incorporated an orchestra. The song is about after a break up, and involves Swift demanding that the guy to “finish what he started.” “Last Kiss” is a country ballad song. Swift explained that the song “is sort of like a letter to somebody.” The song is rumored to be about Joe Jonas. The song clocks six minutes and seven seconds, making it the second longest song on the album. The closing track “Long Live”, which also known as “We Will be Remembered”, is about her band and her fans. It is a look towards the future, to wonder what story will be told then about today. Swift said that “this song for me is like looking at a photo album of all the award shows, and all the stadium shows, and all the hands in the air in the crowd. It's sort of the first love song that I've written to my team.” Release ''Speak Now was released worldwide on October 25, 2010 by Big Machine Records. PR (September 27, 2010). Taylor Swift Launches Speak Now Album Release With 3-Week iTunes Countdown. PR Newswire. Retrieved on 2010-10-26. It was made available for digital download by iTunes. The album's official cover was premiered through Us Weekly on August 18, 2010.Check Out Taylor Swift's New Album Cover – Us Weekly Wednesday – August 18, 2010 – 2:28 pm It was also released on vinyl LP on November 22, 2010. On December 20, 2010 a karaoke version of the album was released featuring the album as a CD+G and a DVD. Marketing Swift performed the song "Innocent" at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. Some of the tracks were previewed in advance of the release date: "Speak Now" on October 4, "Back to December" on October 11, and "Mean" on October 18, 2010. These three were subsequently released to the iTunes Store the following day, respectively. Additionally, "The Story of Us" was previewed October 22, 2010, through Comcast on-demand and XfinityTv.com. "Speak Now" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number eight and on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at number sixty the week of October 11, 2010, selling 217,000 digital downloads. "Back to December" debuted at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, with 242,000 digital downloads. "Mean" debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 163,000 downloads. All fourteen songs on the standard edition of the album have charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, with ten tracks debuting the week of the album's release. The highest-charting of these was "Sparks Fly" at number seventeen with 113,000 downloads. On July 15, 2011, Swift's official website announced that she had partnered with Elizabeth Arden to launch a fragrance, which was released in October 2011. The fragrance's name, "Wonderstruck", is a reference to the song "Enchanted". The fragrance made its in-store appearance on November 16, 2011. On November 8, 2011, Swift released two more promotional singles from the album, "If This Was a Movie" and "Superman", both were made available for digital download by iTunes."If This Was a Movie" and "Superman" references: * * "Haunted", along with the promotional releases, charted on the Billboard 100 at number ninety-eight |title=Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100 |work=Billboard |date=November 19, 2011 |accessdate=November 24, 2011}} and Billboard Hot Digital Songs at number seventy-one. Tour To promote the album – a tour – entitled the Speak Now World Tour was announced on November 23, 2010 by Billboard. The tour began with a six-day leg in Asia, from February 9 to 21, 2011. The tour then ventured in Europe during the month of March, before Swift began the North American leg of the tour on May 21, 2011. The North American leg ended in New York City on November 22, 2011, with a total of 80 shows. The tour extended into 2012 in Oceania. Critics have praised the tour with Billboard.com claiming that "Swift’s two-hour production was an overwhelming experience. There's an enormous amount of detail that worked to make the Speak Now Tour a sort of next step in country concert presentation....it blended the pacing, the music and the artist's personality in a way that transfixed.” The Korean Focus Times praised it by saying, “Taylor Swift charms Korea in style, radiant...with pitch-perfect and sincere vocals. The dedication of the fans present was boundless, the cheers of the crowd were sometimes louder than the music itself.” The New York Times claimed the tour "went off, as did every number, with clockwork professionalism and thousands of voices singing along and screaming between the lines. Ms. Swift, 22, is their superstar....her songs are taut, tuneful narratives.” On August 10, 2011, Swift released a music video for "Sparks Fly", which featured clips taken from four different locations of the tour, which includes one from the show in Newark, New Jersey. The footage with the rain was captured during one of the summer shows in a stadium. A live album of the tour was released on November 21, 2011. The DVD and Blu-ray included with the CD feature all seventeen song performances taken from the North American leg of the tour. Critical reception | rev2 = Robert Christgau | rev2Score = A– | rev3 = Entertainment Weekly | rev3Score = B+ | rev4 = The Guardian | rev4Score = | rev5 = Los Angeles Times | rev5Score = | rev6 = Paste | rev6Score = 7.1/10 | rev7 = PopMatters | rev7Score = 8/10 | rev8 = Rolling Stone | rev8Score = | rev9 = Slant Magazine | rev9Score = | rev10 = Spin | rev10Score = 7/10 }} Speak Now received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 20 reviews.[http://www.metacritic.com/music/speak-now Speak Now (2010): Reviews]. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2010-10-26. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine commended Swift's mature lyrics and stated, "she writes from the perspective of the moment yet has the skill of a songwriter beyond her years". Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "she makes memorable music by in on the tiny stuff: the half-notes in a hummed phrase, the lyrical images that communicate precisely what it’s like to feel uncomfortable, or disappointed, or happy". Rudy Klapper of Sputnikmusic called it "the best pop record of the year". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called Speak Now a "bravura work of nontransparent transparency ... the most savage of her career, and also the most musically diverse. And it's excellent too, possibly her best". MSN Music's Robert Christgau said that, although the songs are "overlong and overworked", they "evince an effort that bears a remarkable resemblance to care—that is, to caring in the best, broadest, and most emotional sense". Dave Heaton of PopMatters observed "a richer array of narratives and even more songs about that process of turning your life into a narrative". Theon Weber of The Village Voice perceived Swift's songwriting strength as "not confessional, but dramatic" and stated "Like a procession of country songwriters before her, she creates characters and situations—some from life—and finds potent ways to describe them". Weber described the album's songs as "iceberg songs" and elaborated on how Swift's talent grows "in proportion" to her artistic freedom: In a mixed review, Allison Stewart of The Washington Post called the album "ridiculously entertaining ... a lengthy, captivating exercise in woo-pitching, flame tending and score-settling", but found it "long: 14 wordy, stretched-thin, occasionally repetitive songs". Slant Magazine's Jonathan Keefe found Swift's singing "technically poor" and her lyrics "generally lacking the variety and sophistication of her compositions", which he called "expertly crafted pop music". Accolades Several music critics and publications included Speak Now in their year-end list. The album was ranked number thirteen on Rolling Stone s year-end best albums list for 2010.Staff (December 25, 2010). The 30 Best Albums of 2010. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-01-18. About.com listed Speak Now as the best pop album of 2010, calling it "a highly personal, intimate musical document that pulls listeners in with both humor and grace". Allison Stewart of The Washington Post named the album the tenth best of 2010, and The New York Times' Jon Caramanica rank Speak Now number two in his top ten albums list, stating that "her songs are more diverse, her images more severe, her blade sharper." Jim Malec of American Noise rank Speak Now number six on his Top 10 Country Music Albums of 2010 and named it the "most courageous" release of 2010. PopMatters ranked it at number five on its list of the best country albums of 2010, while The Boot ranked it at number two on its top ten country albums of the year. In June 2012, the album was included in the "50 best female albums of all time" list by Rolling Stone, ranking at number forty-five. Aside from critic polls, the album was nominated in 2011 Juno Awards for International Album of the Year, losing to Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. It received nominations in 2011 Billboard Music Awards, including Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Country Album in 2011 Billboard Music Awards and won the latter. Speak Now was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Album at the 2012 Grammy Awards and won the Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for her song "Mean". The album is also nominated for Album of the Year in Academy of Country Music Awards, Country Music Association Awards, and American Country Awards, and won the favorite country album in American Music Awards of 2011. Commercial performance Speak Now debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, its sales of 1,047,000 copies making it just the 16th album in United States history to sell one million copies in a single week. It was the second biggest debut ever for a female artist — later pushed down to third biggest by Lady Gaga's Born This Way and then fourth by her own album, Red, - the second biggest ever by a country album, the biggest in five and one half years, and the biggest of 2010. Speak Now also set a new record for the biggest one-week sales tally for an album by a female country artist, surpassing Shania Twain's Up!. It is Swift's second US number-one album. In its second week on the Billboard 200, the album remained at number one and sold 320,000 copies. It dropped to number two and sold 212,000 copies in its third week. In its fourth week, Speak Now dropped to number nine and sold 146,000 copies.Caulfield, Keith. "Susan Boyle's 'Gift' Tops Rihanna, Kid Rock on Billboard 200". billboard.com. November 24, 2010. In its fifth week, it rose to number four and sold 241,000 copies.Caulfield, Keith. "Kanye West, Nicki Minaj Score Big Debuts on Billboard 200". billboard.com. December 1, 2010. Speak Now returned to the top spot on its eight week with over 259,000 copies sold. The album was able to top the Billboard 200 again on the succeeding three weeks, giving a total of six non-consecutive weeks at number one. After only 10 weeks in release, Speak Now became the third best-selling album of 2010 in the United States, with sales of 2,960,000 copies. The album had sold 681,000 digital copies as of January 2012, making it the tenth best selling digital album of all time. On October 25, 2010, the album was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and, as of October 2012, it has sold 4.2 million copies in the US. It is Swift's third album to reached this plateau, following Taylor Swift and Fearless, '' making her the first female solo artist to top the 4 million mark with three studio albums in a row in a decade. All fourteen songs on the album and three bonus tracks have charted on the US ''Billboard Hot 100, eleven of them charted concurrently making Swift just the third artist in history and first female artist to have over ten concurrent Hot 100 hits. Speak Now is also the only album in history to spawn seventeen Hot 100 hits. It produced four top ten, seven top twenty, and nine top thirty hits.The songs that charted reference: * |title=Taylor Swift Singles Chart History|work=Billboard |accessdate=November 21, 2011}} * |title=Taylor Swift Singles Chart History|work=Billboard |accessdate=November 21, 2011}} * |title=Taylor Swift Singles Chart History|work=Billboard |accessdate=November 21, 2011}} * |title=Taylor Swift Singles Chart History|work=Billboard |accessdate=November 21, 2011}} * |title=Taylor Swift Singles Chart History|work=Billboard |accessdate=November 21, 2011}} * |title=Speak Now (song) – Taylor Swift|work=Billboard |accessdate=November 21, 2011}} * * * * * * * * * |title=Pop Song Chart|work=Billboard |accessdate=November 21, 2011}} * |title=The Story of Us — Taylor Swift|work=Billboard |accessdate=November 21, 2011}} * |title=Adult Contemporary Chart|work=Billboard |accessdate=November 21, 2011}} * Speak Now also garnered success outside the US. The album entered at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 62,000 copies. It stayed at the top spot on its second week and was later certified triple platinum by the Music Canada for shipments exceeding 240,000 copies. Speak Now also debuted at number one on Australian Albums Chart, became Swift's first number one album in Australia. It was later certified triple platinum by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The album topped the New Zealand Albums Chart for two weeks and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ). Speak Now also charted within the top ten in five more countries including the United Kingdom where it debuted at number six on the Top 40 Albums chart and has been certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart – October 31, 2010. BBC Online. Retrieved on 2010-10-31. As of February 2012, "Mine" sold 2,081,000 copies, "Mean" sold 1,809,000 copies; "Back to December" sold 1,688,000 copies; "Ours" sold 1,224,000; "Sparks Fly" "The Story of Us" and "Speak Now" have sold approximately 841,000 and 500,000 respectively copies. Deluxe edition A deluxe edition was released exclusively to the Target Corporation and features an alternate cover, with Swift in a red dress instead of the standard edition's violet. It was released on the same day as the standard edition and includes three additional tracks, two acoustic songs, a pop remix of "Mine", and 30 minutes of enhanced video content: the music video for "Mine", as well as behind-the-scenes footage of its production. Released on her official website the Target deluxe edition was made available for digital download by Scattertunes. A deluxe edition was also released internationally featuring the same three bonus songs, acoustic songs and behind the scenes feature from the deluxe edition at Target. The international deluxe edition contains the US versions of "Mine", "Back to December", and "The Story of Us", and the pop mix video for "Mine". On November 8, 2011, the three bonus songs were released individually as singles on iTunes and Amazon.com Amazon.com Reference: * * * and the bonus remixes were released individually as singles on iTunes.Bonus Remixes references: * * * On January 17, 2012, the Target exclusive deluxe edition was released to other retail stores.Speak Now Deluxe Edition releases: * * * Track listing | title15 = Mine | note15 = US Version) (additional production by Dean Gillard and Matt Ward | length15 = 3:51 }} Personnel Credits for Speak Now adapted from liner notes. * Chuck Ainlay – engineer * Joseph Anthony Baker – photography * Steve Blackmon – assistant * Tom Bukovac – electric guitar * Drew Bollman – assistant, assistant engineer, engineer * Tristan Brock-Jones – assistant engineer * David Bryant – assistant engineer * Paul Buckmaster – conductor, orchestral arrangements * Nick Buda – drums * Jason Campbell – production coordination * Chad Carlson – engineer * Chris Carmichael – composer, string arrangements, strings * Joseph Cassell – stylist * Nathan Chapman – banjo, bass, engineer, Fender Rhodes, guitar (12-string electric), electric and acoustic guitar, handclapping, mandolin, organ, piano, producer, programming, synthesizer, vocal harmony * Steve Churchyard – engineer * Mark Crew – mixing engineer * Smith Curry – lap steel guitar * Eric Darken – percussion * Caitlin Evanson – vocal harmony * Shannon Forrest – drums * John Gardner – drums * Dean Gillard – production, mixing, additional instrumentation * Jed Hackett – engineer * Rob Hajacos – fiddle * Amos Heller – bass * Liz Huett – vocal harmony * Jeremy Hunter – engineer * Aubrey Hyde – wardrobe * Suzie Katayama – orchestra contractor * Tim Lauer – Hammond B3, piano * Steve Marcantonio – engineer * Tim Marks – bass * Mike Meadows – electric guitar, handclapping * Grant Mickelson – electric guitar * Seth Morton – assistant engineer * Emily Mueller –production assistant * Jemma Muradian – hair stylist * John Netti – assistant engineer * Bethany Newman – design, illustrations * Josh Newman – design, illustrations * Justin Niebank – engineer, mixing * Mark Petaccia – assistant engineer * Joel Quillen – engineer * Matt Rausch – assistant * Lowell Reynolds – engineer * Michael Rhodes – bass * Mike Rooney – assistant engineer * Paul Sidoti – electric guitar * Tommy Sims – bass * Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, ukulele, national * Austin K. Swift – photography * Taylor Swift – vocals, art direction, composer, acoustic guitar, handclapping, liner notes, producer, vocal harmony * Todd Tidwell – assistant engineer, engineer * Lorrie Turk – make-up * Matt Ward – production, mixing, additional instrumentation * Hank Williams – mastering * Brian David Willis – engineer * Al Wilson – handclapping, percussion * Nathan Yarborough – assistant mixing engineer Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications References External links * [http://taylorswift.com/releases#release-2832 Speak Now (Deluxe Edition) at Taylor Swift official site]: includes lyrics of all tracks. * Speak Now at Discogs Category:albums Category:Albums produced by Nathan Chapman